Re: "The Hell With This" podcast...

So far Chad I'm really enjoying this show. I listened to the first one that downloaded to my phone and you weren't on it. So I went BACK to ep 1 and am starting from there. You should drink more.

Exceeeelllllent. Yeah, the drinking has subsided, sadly. BUT IT SHALL CONTINUE! Just not in this episode.

"The In-Laws" (1979)

With Chad absent AGAIN, last week's guest - Steve Phelan - makes a fill-in look natural. This time Steve picks the movie: the original "The In-Laws" from 1979, starring the great Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in a film directed by Arthur Hiller. Mark's never seen the movie (neither has Chad, for that matter, not that he's here today (but he IS writing this, strangely, in the 3rd person)). "The In-Laws" (1979) can currently be found in the Criterion Collection.

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"Better Luck Tomorrow" (2002)

Hey everybody, Chad's back! Chad's back!

*Crickets*

...and so is Steve Phelan, returning for his third consecutive podcast with the fellas. Today they attempt to tackle one of Chad's suggested films - the Justin Lin helmed "Better Luck Tomorrow", from 2002. This film reeks of late-90's style, and is FULL of nostalgia because of it. Not many films captured this particular era as well as this - and absolutely none of those films did it with an entirely Asian-American cast. This movie shines, and we hope it'll shine for you, too.

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Oh hello, everyone. Chad here. This week's podcast features people not including myself - I know, I know - but the show must go on (including next week, which I'm also absent for). All this aside, co-host Mark brings us two things this week: "Back To School", the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield classic; and a guest appearance by fellow podcaster & writer, Josh Trotter.

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Hey, guess what! Chad's missing in action for the second week straight, replaced this time by animation director extraordinaire, Ashley Long (also known to be dating Mark Alan Heiliger, co-host of this very podcast)! Mark and Ashley take on the absolutely fucking wacky "Earth Girls Are Easy" from 1988, starring Genna Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Michael McKean, and Julie Brown.

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"The Notorious Bettie Page" (2005)

Well, it finally happened. Chad finally returned to the podcast, after missing 4 of the last 5 episode tapings. The original duo, Mark and Chad, are back together at last, this time to bring you a movie of Chad's request: a charming "The Notorious Bettie Page" from 2005. This little film came and went, primarily on HBO as it was produced (or at least bought) by HBO. Starring Gretchen Mol in probably her best-ever performance, "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a film directed by Mary Harron ("American Psycho").

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Re: "The Hell With This" podcast...

“Sex, Lies and Videotape" (1989)

The era of "films for adults" is dead. Ain't it? We live in an age where films similar to "Sex, Lies and Videotape" seem to be hitting Netflix on a daily basis. Why not? Small casts, sexy, low budget, "smart" conversations on film between some intellectuals (or nonsensicals) and you've got yourself a film in the same wheelhouse. This is a movie that hit Hollywood harder than it appeared at the time, because it really opened up the door to a whole new generation of filmmakers, from Steven Soderberg himself, across the indie darling spectrum all the way to Kevin Smith.

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Chad and Byron Smith tackle Chad's favorite movie from 2014, the wonderful (but oddly divisive) "It Follows". This movie loves suspense, adores suspense and craves suspense - teasing the audience from start to finish. Stylistically, it set the bar for last year's "Stranger Things", but it did so in a way that was probably more terrifying and less nostalgic. Not loved by everyone, but certainly worth a look.

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Pretty sure you've heard of this one before. "The famous Oscar loser", as Mark puts it, gently. But Mark's never seen it, and Chad has (too many times), so here we are. Why tackle a movie that's hot off the press? Well, maybe it's a half-hearted attempt to have a conversation about hype and how too much of it can be a turn-off - can a great movie surpass the expectations of hype, or is it always doomed to fail?

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Re: "The Hell With This" podcast...

Mark and Chad dive deep into John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" - a film which Chad is seeing for the first time. They talk about their collective love of Carpenter's collected works and the sentimentality they feel for that "lost" brand of filmmaking. Actually, it's kind of a depressing episode, so have a beer handy and drink down your sorrows.

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"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (2009)

With whispers that Terry Gilliam's ill-fated Don Quixote project might finally see the light of day, we thought we'd dive into another Gilliam film that almost didn't make it to screens: "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". With the passing of Heath Ledger - half way through production - Gilliam and crew had to shut down and regroup. The result is stronger than one might expect, given the circumstances, with some flaws along the way. The real question is - can Terry Gilliam return to form?

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Ep.33 - "The Big Short" (2015)

2008 came and went with no really big issues, right? Uhh, wrong. Guest Brian Finifter and co-host Mark Heiliger take a look (minus Chad) at "The Big Short" (Mark's first time). They ponder exactly what went wrong (with the economy - not the movie), and leave us with a sense of overall dread. Thanks, guys.

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Mark, Chad and guest Steve Phelan return after a week off to explore Steve's pick, "Rumble Fish", Francis Ford Coppola's generally forgotten art-house epic(?) from 1983. Photographed on gorgeously lush black and white film, "Rumble Fish" is a film that most likely couldn't see the light of day in our era or filmmaking - a large cast of up-and-coming stars, including Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane and Nicolas Cage, would frankly be unheard-of in a modern independent shot on black and white film (or video, for that matter). It's a relic of its time, for sure.

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You didn't even know you missed us. (wait, did you?)

Ah, the sweet, sweet smell of being back. Mark and Chad are back after an extended break! Chad went and directed a feature film in Australia (currently untitled), and Mark's been busy busting his butt on shows like "Preacher" and "My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend". That said, we're back weekly from here on out (for the foreseeable future).

Let's get to it, shall we?

This week, Chad and Mark deep dive back into Robert Altman (that didn't come out right)... with "The Player", a 1992 opus that features every fucking actor ever. The movie breaks the first rule of filmmaking: don't make a movie about filmmaking. If you haven't seen it before, maybe check it out before listening - as always, we WILL spoil the movie (and cameos) for you.

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Mark's back with previous guest Josh Trotter to discuss the child-traumatizing film, "Poltergeist" - the movie that haunted Josh in his youth (and he's never seen it - only listened to it from behind a couch).

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This is one of those slow-burn modern-classic films that only David Fincher could have directed. Mark and Chad discuss, well - is it a "classic"? Chad seems to think so. Mark isn't as certain. One thing is for sure, however: the film didn't play well on first viewing, but ultimately gets much, much better on repeat viewings. Is that because it breaks the modern storytelling tropes? Does it break traditional structure? Does the film climax?

Will all these questions be answered here? Probably not, but we'll touch on some of it.